"Some previous research has found evidence for female intuition
but perhaps, over time, men have become more in touch with their
intuitive side.

"I was surprised, given that women had so much more confidence
in their intuition. We thought women would be better but, overall,
men just pipped them to the post."

More than 15,000 people took part in the online experiment at
the Edinburgh International Science Festival. Participants were
shown 10 pairs of photographs of smiling faces, each containing one
genuine smile and one fake.

They were asked beforehand to rate their intuitive abilities,
with 77 per cent of women classing themselves as highly intuitive
versus 58 per cent of men.

Men were able to pick out 72 per cent of genuine smiles, while
women detected 71 per cent. When evaluating sincerity in the faces
of the opposite sex, men were right in 76 per cent of cases
compared with 67 per cent for women.

"This could be because women experience emotions more fully and
are more expressive," Professor Wiseman said. "If men have a more
limited emotional system, this may make it easier for them to fake
it."

A relationship psychologist, Susan Quilliam, said the reason
women performed worse than men was they were programmed to look on
the bright side.

"Women will be less likely to notice and to want to see fakeness
in any situation," she said.

Another psychologist, Gladeana McMahon, said: "Cognitive
psychologists define intuition as the fast processing of
information, so that we get the answer before knowing the question.
It may be women have been labelled as intuitive because they tend
to talk more about their feelings."